Form Meets Function at Trump's Inauguration
Judging by the fashion, it was a tale of several different realities at the second presidential inauguration of Donald J. Trump on Monday morning. The men only telegraphed partisanship with the color of their ties—red, blue, purple.
The women, on the other hand, let their looks do all the talking. Republicans in particular—mainly first lady Melania Trump, second lady Usha Vance and first daughter Ivanka Trump—were largely starring in a period piece, if not necessarily the same one.
Monochromatics reigned supreme. Melania and Ivanka looked as if their mood boards had been pinned with movie stars from the 1940s. A lover of European luxury houses, Melania opted to go American for the occasion: Her slim, tailored double-breasted navy coat with a white collar peeking out by Adam Lippes was actually quite timeless and elegant. But it was a matching navy hat with a white ribbon by Eric Javits that sent her into Joan Crawford villain territory.
Pulled low, it largely obscured her eyes and the sizable brim made it difficult for her husband to get close enough to deliver an air kiss. Watching on television, it was a textbook example of form meeting function.
Ivanka wore a custom Dior dark green skirt suit with a wasp waist and a matching bean-shaped hat molded to the side of her head that recalled a film noir femme fatale. Or Phyllis Nefler in Troop Beverly Hills.
The dutiful daughter and wife to Jared Kushner, an advisor to the president during the first Trump administration, both looked glamorous yet dated in the clothes of willful delusion.
Meanwhile, Usha was 39 going on 80 in an Oscar de la Renta dress coat with a built-in scarf in a shade of pink associated with indigestion, her hair shellacked into a French twist, a style that hasn’t been current in 60 years. The style mandate seemed to be ladylike and retro. Roger that. They could’ve all been attending Truman’s inauguration.
By contrast, the Democratic women were living in 2025. Jill Biden, now the former first lady, is never one to cast a dark shadow. She wore a bright purple suit and coat by Ralph Lauren with matching purple pumps. For anyone not up on color theory, purple is the result of combining red and blue. It was in keeping with the not-so-subtle optics of Joe Biden’s inauguration four years ago.
Former vice president Kamala Harris and secretary of state, and presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton were stately and solemn in black and navy pant suits. Both women have used fashion to communicate with the public.
For the plutocratic class present at the Capitol Rotunda en masse —Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s Sundar Pichai—Lauren Sanchez, Jeff Bezos’s fiancé, delivered the sartorial mood: A white lace bustier hoisting up her ample décolleté from beneath her white suit. It was giving, appropriately, NBC’s The Traitors.
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